Humor in Mohawk Girls: the Deft Interweaving of Gender and Race
The sitcom Mohawk Girls (2014-2017) calls for a change in racialized and gendered identity models. Mohawk Girls deftly approaches racial issues, often in a serious tone, all the while giving its audience what it expects from a sitcom: witty dialogue, many of which play on issues of gender. Through t...
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University of Bologna
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2daf5ea61e1545aa8cf7307512bbf1d5 2023-05-15T16:15:36+02:00 Humor in Mohawk Girls: the Deft Interweaving of Gender and Race Jean Sébastien 2018-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454X/8398 https://doaj.org/article/2daf5ea61e1545aa8cf7307512bbf1d5 EN ES IT eng spa ita University of Bologna https://series.unibo.it/article/view/8398 https://doaj.org/toc/2421-454X 2421-454X doi:10.6092/issn.2421-454X/8398 https://doaj.org/article/2daf5ea61e1545aa8cf7307512bbf1d5 Series. International journal of tv serial narratives, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 31-42 (2018) sitcom First Nations humor race gender Communication. Mass media P87-96 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454X/8398 2022-12-31T16:05:42Z The sitcom Mohawk Girls (2014-2017) calls for a change in racialized and gendered identity models. Mohawk Girls deftly approaches racial issues, often in a serious tone, all the while giving its audience what it expects from a sitcom: witty dialogue, many of which play on issues of gender. Through the analysis of two episodes of the sitcom’s first season, we look at how the show represents issues of race on a reservation and how racialism is part of the community’s unspoken norms. Choosing to produce a sitcom, a genre heavily rooted in white North American culture, comes out as an act of resilience that is manifested by the First Nations’ director and producers. In the analysis of the documentary work of director Tracey Deer, an argument has been made to the effect that this resilience has historical roots in the culture of Hodinöhsö:ni' nations (once referred to as the Iroquois). In order for these communities to adjust to, at times, abrupt changes in their population, adoption of individuals or groups of individuals has long been an important cultural institution. This can be illustrated by the fact that the integration of a neighboring group to the Hodinöhsö:ni' is referred to in the group’s own culture as an adoption where an outside eye might see it as the outcome of a political alliance. The show, through exaggeration and grotesque, takes on the issues of gender and its games of seduction, all the while considering the ambiguous interplay of seduction and domination. These borrowings are helpful in breaching a critical indent into the unwearied oppression that white society imposes on First Nations. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Spanish Italian |
topic |
sitcom First Nations humor race gender Communication. Mass media P87-96 |
spellingShingle |
sitcom First Nations humor race gender Communication. Mass media P87-96 Jean Sébastien Humor in Mohawk Girls: the Deft Interweaving of Gender and Race |
topic_facet |
sitcom First Nations humor race gender Communication. Mass media P87-96 |
description |
The sitcom Mohawk Girls (2014-2017) calls for a change in racialized and gendered identity models. Mohawk Girls deftly approaches racial issues, often in a serious tone, all the while giving its audience what it expects from a sitcom: witty dialogue, many of which play on issues of gender. Through the analysis of two episodes of the sitcom’s first season, we look at how the show represents issues of race on a reservation and how racialism is part of the community’s unspoken norms. Choosing to produce a sitcom, a genre heavily rooted in white North American culture, comes out as an act of resilience that is manifested by the First Nations’ director and producers. In the analysis of the documentary work of director Tracey Deer, an argument has been made to the effect that this resilience has historical roots in the culture of Hodinöhsö:ni' nations (once referred to as the Iroquois). In order for these communities to adjust to, at times, abrupt changes in their population, adoption of individuals or groups of individuals has long been an important cultural institution. This can be illustrated by the fact that the integration of a neighboring group to the Hodinöhsö:ni' is referred to in the group’s own culture as an adoption where an outside eye might see it as the outcome of a political alliance. The show, through exaggeration and grotesque, takes on the issues of gender and its games of seduction, all the while considering the ambiguous interplay of seduction and domination. These borrowings are helpful in breaching a critical indent into the unwearied oppression that white society imposes on First Nations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jean Sébastien |
author_facet |
Jean Sébastien |
author_sort |
Jean Sébastien |
title |
Humor in Mohawk Girls: the Deft Interweaving of Gender and Race |
title_short |
Humor in Mohawk Girls: the Deft Interweaving of Gender and Race |
title_full |
Humor in Mohawk Girls: the Deft Interweaving of Gender and Race |
title_fullStr |
Humor in Mohawk Girls: the Deft Interweaving of Gender and Race |
title_full_unstemmed |
Humor in Mohawk Girls: the Deft Interweaving of Gender and Race |
title_sort |
humor in mohawk girls: the deft interweaving of gender and race |
publisher |
University of Bologna |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454X/8398 https://doaj.org/article/2daf5ea61e1545aa8cf7307512bbf1d5 |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Series. International journal of tv serial narratives, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 31-42 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://series.unibo.it/article/view/8398 https://doaj.org/toc/2421-454X 2421-454X doi:10.6092/issn.2421-454X/8398 https://doaj.org/article/2daf5ea61e1545aa8cf7307512bbf1d5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454X/8398 |
_version_ |
1766001352713961472 |